Snow-plow



J. SHERIDAN Car-Track Clearer.

Patented Apr. 22, 1862 Inventor,

Witnesses UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES SHERIDAN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES SHERIDAN, of the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Snow Flows; and I do hereby declare the following to be a clear and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making part of this specification, in which Figure l is a side elevation of my said improvement, and Figs. 2 and 3 are parts of the same to be hereinafter referred to and explained.

The following description will enable any one skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the same.

Similar letters of reference represent corresponding parts of the difi'erent figures of the drawing.

The plow is represented in the drawing by R. It is secured to the lower end of the beam F, and is arranged to set diagoi'ially across the rail A. It is made of any suit able material, and in any desired form. The beam F is arranged so as to be capable of a vertical motion, and also a vibrating one. Its upper end is suspended by pivots r in grooves E, made in brackets D, see dotted lines Fig. 2.

To enable the scraper R to do its work eifectually, it must either set vertically, with respect to the track, or its bottom must set a little in advance of its top, giving it a slope from the bottom upward and backward. But it must be held in this position by some yielding agent-such as a spring or weightand be so arranged that it can yield and pass over unyielding obstructions on the track; and so as not to interfere with the vertical motion of the car-body on its springs and the scraper should also have some attachment by which it can be raised up out of the way when its use is not needed.

To the end that the plow may not interfere with the action of the springs under the body of the car, I suspend the upper end of the beam Fuon a pivot, 7, which pivot is fixed in, or on the beam, and works freely up and down in the grooves E, made in the inside of the bracket D, secured to the carbody B, by bow-bolts E.

To hold the plow, or scraper, in its proper position and at the same time allow it to yield to unyielding obstructions, I use a stiff double spring, K, which I pivot to the bracket D, at e, and connect it to the beam E by the link J and carry the double SNOW-PLOW.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 35,066, dated April 22, 1862.

L of the spring back around the pivot, so as to bear against the plate m, on the block P, to which the brackets D are bolted. By these means the scraper is held up with sufficient firmness to scrape oif the loose snow and dirt, and at the same time has a yielding property which keeps it from being broken in'case it strikes any unyielding obstruct-ion.

Ordinarily the weight of the scraper will be suflicient to keep it down upon the track with sufficient force to do its work, but should the mud be stifi' or the snow hard so as to require a greater vertical force, such force I obtain by raising the pin I against the foot of the spring, this pin being made movable to that end.

To keep the scraper on the track it is necessary to brace it laterally, and the braces fulfilling this function must be so arranged as not to interfere with its free action in other respects. To this end I fit the clamp G loosely around the beam, and from itcarry two braces, a a on each side of the beam, to a hinge joint, 6, (in dot-ted lines), on each side of the brackets D. There are four braces in all, which converge from the clasp to the point 6 in one direction, and diverge from the clasp to the same point in the other, as shown in Figs. 2 and 1. By this means the beam is firmly braced on each side, and at the same time left perfectly free to rise and fall, and to vibrate longitudinally on the pivot 1.

To enable the driver to raise the scraper from the track when its use is not required, I connect a cord, 6, to the clasp G, and carry it over the drum H, fixed under the front endof the car-body, on a shaft, which may be turned by any convenient means so as to raise the scraper off the track.

The scraper is attached tothe beam by a band, T, passing around the back side of it, as shown by Fig. 3. This figure also shows the position in which the scraper sets across the track.

Having now described the construction and operation of my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, arrangement, and mode of supporting the plow-beam F, with the groove E, plow, and car-body, as and for the purpose herein set forth.

JAMES SHERIDAN.

Witnesses Z. D. LANSING,

O. SPEN ER. 

